These photos of abandoned malls and golf courses reveal a new era for the American suburb

The American suburb has gone through some huge changes in the last few decades.

Malls, once a place for suburbanites to spend their downtime, have suffered in the wake of the retail apocalypse, and many have shut down.

Suburban real estate and golf courses have also evolved in recent years.

In March 2017, Business Insider reported a series of stories on “The Death of Suburbia,” declaring the end of the suburbs as we once knew them.

By examining the plummeting value of McMansions, the increasingly blurry line between city and suburb, and the shuttered shopping malls across the nation, we saw that the once-flourishing suburbs were no longer what they used to be.

Ahead, see a collection of photos from Seph Lawless and Business Insider reporters, showing the relics of America’s suburban past. Some of these structures are now abandoned while millennials move forward with alternative ways of living.

It’s been a rough couple of years for the retail industry, and malls are shutting down across the country. Chicago’s Lincoln Mall, pictured here, shut its doors in January 2015.

In October of 2017, it was announced that Valley View Mall was part of a proposal from three Dallas developers to Amazon to build their HQ2 on the site.

Many retailers have struggled to adapt to changing consumer behaviours. As for the anchor stores that are still open in malls, such as this Sears store in Glen Allen, Virginia, the lack of products can be alarming.

Hayley Peterson/Business Insider

In July 2017, Business Insider correspondent Hayley Peterson visited the Glen Allen Sears and found empty shelves in the shoe department.

Wet Seal closed 171 locations in 2017.

In December of 2017, Mattress Firm’s parent company Steinhoff confirmed it would be closing 200 stores.

Malls and shopping aren’t the only things that have changed in suburbs across America. Once a community staple in many American suburbs, the golf course is also now a slowly dying breed.

Sarah Jacobs/Business InsiderThe closed Apple Ridge Country Club in Mahwah, New Jersey.

More than 800 golf courses have shuttered across the US in the past decade, and data from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association has shown that millennials between the age of 18 to 30 have a lack of interest in playing the game.

In lieu of traditional housing, some millennials are turning shipping containers, sailboats, and vans into homes.

Young homebuyers with different attitudes towards conspicuous consumption are also killing off the McMansion, a sprawling, often architecturally mismatched home boasting several thousand square feet of space. The values of McMansions could be falling, according to a survey by Trulia.